In modern motor vehicles, the radiator grille and the auxiliary components located spatially behind it, such as, for instance, the heat exchanger of the engine cooling system, are not directly mounted on the vehicle structure but on a supporting structure mounted thereon, which is typically referred to as a mounting bracket. This offers the advantage known per se that different engine variants with different auxiliary components can be implemented without any change to the vehicle structure. Moreover, the mounting bracket simplifies the pre-assembly of the radiator module and may in a suitable embodiment also save weight in comparison with direct mounting.
Known mounting brackets are disclosed in the official publications DE 10 2008 026 977 A1 and DE 10 2010 012 123 A1. DE 10 2008 026 977 A1, in particular, describes how the mounting bracket is connected to the vehicle structure in a customary manner, and discloses a mounting bracket made of plastic, which besides a saving in weight also offers advantages in manufacture.
The aforementioned documents further disclose that the customary mounting brackets are, from a point of view of cost consideration, advantageously made from fibre-reinforced polymer material in an injection moulding process. In addition, they and the further document DE 20 2006 019 341 U1 describe that sheet metal structures or blanks made from so-called organometallic sheet may be embedded as reinforcements in highly stressed areas of the injection moulded polymer material of the conventional mounting brackets. The term organometallic sheet here refers to a textile surface structure soaked in a thermoplastic synthetic resin. The surface structure may, in particular, be a fabric or non-woven made from natural, carbon, glass or mineral fibres. The thermoplastic property of the synthetic resin allows that the thus formed matrix can be softened by means of heating and that the organometallic sheet, which is typically flat in its shipping state, can be remoulded into a contoured shape by means of compression moulding after having been heated to its softening temperature. As suggested by the name of the basic material, a similarity with the drawing or forming of sheet metal exists in the context of its processing and the shapes thus achievable.
DE 10332969 A1 discloses a module support made from a fibre composite plastic. This module support is formed by compression moulding and at least partially consists of fabric layers. The entire component is reinforced by means of a fabric layer of continuous filaments and, depending on requirements, receives additional reinforcements by way of fibre inserts.
DE 1020596581 discloses a construction element made from fibre reinforced plastic. The element comprises a multiple-layer construction with different types of fibres and different fibre orientations and a hollow core. The individual components here are always overmoulded with a simple plastic.